


Summer Days

by orphan_account



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: Hound is Hunter; Jetstorm is Jessy; Slipstream is Sam; Drift remains the same, Human AU, M/M, but it is minigays centric, perhaps more ships to be added to this verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-18
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-03-31 02:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3960895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of summer vacation, Sam ends up saving a boy's life. That event pushes them further together, and in the remaining days of summer, the two get closer and closer. That their guardians seem drawn together also brings them in close proximity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Days of Summer: Act I

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for a while with bicobooty over on tumblr and I finally sat my ass down and started writing this. Yes I owe so many other fics. Yes I plan on updating them. No I have no idea when that will happen. Until then take some gays.

There’s something incredibly refreshing in looking for something to do. There’s something incredibly relaxing in the long, heated days of summer spent lounging by the beach. There’s something incredibly wonderful about that final summer in the stretch between high school and college, a sort of final last hurrah before friends split up often to never see each other with the same innate bonds as before.

This afternoon should have been refreshing, relaxing, and wonderful.

Sam was feeling none of these things.

Stretched out on the patio furniture, the black haired teen ran a hand through his unruly hair. Beside him, pale golden sand stretched out towards the dark blue ocean, with white and grey gulls circling the rocks and pier around them. Their cries stopped the afternoon from being too monotonous, but as someone who has been long since accustomed to the ebb and flow of sea side living, Sam wasn’t sufficiently distracted.

His tongue hunts along the edge of his drink for his straw, lips grasping nothing, as he scrolls along his phone. The little sea side hamlet in which he and his guardian lived in was a far cry from a social hub, and going into the city every night was out of the question. Hunter didn’t necessarily _need_ to leave the house, as a lot of what he did was freelancing, and only really needed to go into the city when he had to be physically at the bank that he technically worked for.

So, as he scrolled through for things to do that night, he found himself sighing exasperatedly. There really was _nothing_ to do.

His gaze wandered off the screen of his phone, and promptly stopped on a foreigner he knew he had never seen before. The town was too small for someone like him to have escaped Sam’s notice. If not for the Asian features, then for the skill with which the kid handled a soccer ball.

The teen didn’t seem to have any parents with him at the time, and no one was really paying him any mind, save a few sand covered children who stopped to watch the tricks. One thing was for sure; he was not acrobatically challenged. Normally Sam scoffed at the people who did tricks purposefully to show off, instead of for the fun of it, but this was…probably something along both lines. He wasn’t even sure.

He sits up, further watching how the stranger moves along the beach. Very talented, almost effortless; it’s obvious he’s been doing this for a long time.

If he was biting his lip as he watched the way his torso twisted to align perfectly for the next trick, he wasn’t admitting it, even to himself. (He even had something he was entirely sure wouldn’t be legal in a _real_ game, but it combined a bicycle kick with a back flip and was something completely illegal both in soccer rules and in Sam’s own mental rule book for how much attractiveness one boy could have.)

He was focused on the boy, yes, but not where he was _going._ And one of his tricks – the bicycle kick/back flip extravaganza – bounced off the end of the pier and settled on the rocks beneath the pier.

Now, those rocks were normally dry and sun baked. But high tide had only recently receded, and that left the algae and sea weed coated shapes incredibly slippery. Even barefoot, the grip a human could have on them was severely limited.

Sam had his own collection of faint childhood scars on his knees and shins from said adventures, always patched up by his uncle and mom. He knew for a fact that it wasn’t a good idea to be crawling on them so soon after the ocean had receded.

But just as he was debating sitting up and calling out to the kid – the beach was reasonably empty, with it being as hot as it was, so he was sure his voice would carry – the kid just _drops._ Slips on a patch of seaweed, and drops out of sight.

He didn’t get up.

Sam reacts on instinct, and jumps down the wall separating his backyard from the beach. Sprinting over to where the kid had fallen, he finds him easily, despite the slippery climb. The foreigner is even more attractive up close, despite the blood leaking from his temple, with the sand coating his skin like a sugar cookie.

He dials 911, fills them in on what to do, and waits by the kid’s body. He still has a pulse, and head wounds bleed a lot, but it doesn’t stop him from worrying. By now, a crowd has gathered, of concerned beach goers and nosy kids.

Sam turns to give them a grin, and shrugs. “This is why you listen to the signs, kids.” A few of the younger boys grab their mother’s hands anxiously, peering up at the red and white sign that read KEEP OFF ROCKS rather boldly.

The water pushes through the rocks a bit, bringing the ball back to within Sam’s grasp. He takes it, wedging it between two rocks to keep it from floating away. He notices some Japanese characters on the side of the ball, but has no knowledge of what it means.

He hears his dad’s voice trailing through the crowd as he works his way through. Really, being the giant that he is, it’s not all that difficult to do so. Sam shoots him a wry grin as he looks up at him, catching the concern on Hunter’s face.

“I’m fine, I already called the paramedics, they’ll be here momentarily,” Sam begins instantly, cutting of the concerned rant from his guardian.

Hunter’s eyes narrow, and he turns back to the crowd, dispersing them with a glare that every parent could recognize – the “I’m very concerned about the situation so please leave me and my child alone” stare. The crowd thins, and Sam bites his lower lip.

“Should I move him?”

“I can’t tell ya if ya should or shouldn’t, but ya had me worried sick. The ambulance will be here any second now, I could hear ‘em from the house,” the eldest of the two replied, crouching beside Sam in the small nest of rocks. “How did ya know ta come over here?”

“He was…” He tries to come up with an excuse that doesn’t boil down to just gawking. “Doing some really cool soccer tricks. I was watching him and he came over here to get his ball. He slipped on some seaweed and –”

“Down he went. Right.” Hunter turns back toward the beach, catching the red and white paint of the ambulance in flashes through the houses. “I’ll direct ‘em over here. You stay put.”

But as he gets up to leave, he runs into a slightly smaller but stockier foreigner, who with the degree of concern and breathlessness in his frame could only have been the kid’s father.

“ _Jeshii!_ What happened to him!?” the shorter man demanded. He stared up at Hunter with peculiar golden eyes which reminded the American of a tiger’s eye gem. He was muscular, but not overly so, and he was obviously older than Hunter.

Backing away with hands up, Hunter’s reply was halted by Sam hesitantly coming to his aid. “He, uh, slipped on the rocks. It was an accident, but he, um, hit his head.”

The kid’s father’s – grandfather? Sam almost felt bad for thinking so but couldn’t tell – reply was cut off by the arrival of the paramedics. In a rush of white uniforms, the now barely awake teen looked over at the group of three men, but focused in mainly on his family.

With a few words, the bleeding boy and his guardian were gone, leaving Hunter staring at Sam with a confused look on his face.

“Well that was…odd.”

“Yeah, to say the least.” Sam frowns and looks down, catching sight of the ball still wedged in the rock. “Huh, they left this here.”

“Perfect excuse ta go talk ta them some more, right?” Hunter replies, casting an arm around his charge, and walking him back towards their house. He had more than a few questions for the boy’s father…

…and Sam wanted nothing than to be far away from that boy’s father.

* * *

The next day, around noon, Hunter packed Sam and the soccer ball into the Jeep, and drove to the hospital. It wasn’t all that hard to get the boy’s room number, and it was there that both Hunter and Sam heard the English equivalent of the boy’s name.

“Jessy. So, without the lisp thing in the Japanese pronunciation,” Hunter mused as he and Sam walked down the quiet hallway.

“Dad, I somehow think calling it a “lisp thing” is kind of offensive,” Sam retorts, casting a look at the taller man. He rolls his eyes when he gets an impish grin in response.

They come to a stop by room 12A, and Sam feels his heart quickening for two reasons. One, from what he could see through the door’s window, Jessy – and wasn’t it thrilling to know his name? – was awake. Two, the boy’s guard _tiger,_ for that was the animal that sprung to mind when looking at his father, was there as well, talking to him. From the stern expression on his face, and Jessy’s lowered gaze, it was clear he was getting the overdue tongue lashing he probably deserved.

Hunter, having no sense of boundaries, pushes the door open, and smiles in that easy way he always has about him. Sam, dread growing with every step, follows him. “Drift, is it? Really glad Jessy’s okay. That was quite a fall.”

Drift gives a simple and blunt, “Your kindness is noted.”

The quieter boy blushes a bit and nods. “Thank you for your concern, sir.” Like his father, he too had an accent, although his was a bit less strong. Probably due to the difference in age, Sam mused.

He looks around the sparse walls, his fingertips lightly drumming on the soccer ball, as Drift and Hunter converse, trying to come up with an excuse to make both tiger dad and his own dad leave the room so he could have a few moments with this kid.

Luckily, Jessy seems to get his discomfort, for a few moments later, he’s murmuring something in Japanese to his father. There’s a look of concern on Drift’s face, before he relents.  “Let us take this conversation outside, yes?”

Hunter furrows his brow, but nods anyway, turning and opening the door for Drift, before leaving with him. That left Sam and Jessy by themselves, just the quiet beeping of machinery breaking up the quiet.

“Thank you,” a quiet voice from the bed begins. “For seeing me. I didn’t think anything bad would happen, and the rocks looked dry…”

“Yeah, well, they can be tricky. The rocks can dry, but the seaweed on them might not.” Sam walks over, sitting in the white plastic chair by the bed, resting the soccer ball on his knees. The natural, if not shy beauty before him made it difficult to talk, but he pressed on. “And besides, you acted as a good model for the rest of the beach. Well, a model for what _not_ to do.”

A smile pulls at the bed ridden male’s lips, and Sam feels his heart melting a bit. “Great. That’s the first impression I make here.”

“A very smooth and helpful one.” Sam smiles in return. “So, your name is Jessy? Your, uh, dad called you something different.”

“Probably Jeshii. It’s the same name, just in Japanese. And, mine ends with a y, not an ie. I like the way it looks that way,” Jessy replies, slowly growing more confident in his conversation with the other youth.

“Ah, right. Yeah, that was it. My name’s Sam, but it’s just short for Samuel. Simple name, simple guy, I guess.”

“A simple guy who saved the life of a stranger – and his soccer ball,” Jessy wryly pointed out, his smile turning into a bit of a smirk.

The half-Samoan looks down with a blush, and offers the soccer ball back to Jessy. “Um, yeah. Guess I’m just that nice of a guy – saved it before the tide could take it out,” he says, gently placing it into Jessy’s grip.

There’s a lull in conversation, before Jessy turns to him to ask, rather quietly, “How old are you?”

“Me? I’m 19. My birthday’s in October. Yours?”

“Oh, I’m in November. I’m 19 as well.”

“Oh, cool. This is the part where I would say that I have a friend who’s born in November or what have you, but the truth is I really don’t. So, guess that locks you in, right?” If this wasn’t the most awkward conversation Sam’s ever had in his life, he didn’t know _what_ was. Luckily, Jessy doesn’t seem to mind all that much.

“Ah, right.” The Japanese teen smiles at the American, but turns towards the door once he hears his father’s voice raise. Not in frustration, but in that tone he had whenever he was _approaching_ frustration.

“It may be wise to go collect your father from mine,” Jessy begins, beginning to worry his lower lip.

“Oh, he’s not my father. But thanks though, I’ll go get him. Dad, we’re gonna go soon, say your goodbyes.” And as Sam’s moving towards the door, he pauses, and looks back towards Jessy. “Wait, um…would it be weird to give you my number?”

Jessy looks at him in shock, but still happy to say the least. “Why would you?”

“Because the man I just said was not my father I addressed as Dad, and you have an accent but you’re as old as me and speak fluent English. I think that’s enough for a bit of conversation, don’t you?” He’s giving a cocky grin, but in reality, his heart is racing a bit too fast for his own liking.

Luckily, it seems Jessy is pulling the same act, although the heart monitor he’s hooked up too doesn’t allow for his own grin to completely cover his racing pulse. “Yes, I would like that then.”

Sam darts back over, scribbles his number down on the pad by Jessy’s bed, and bids him a farewell. There’s a curt, and awkward goodbye to Drift, and then Sam all but dragged Hunter back out to the car.

The two men sit out in the Jeep, just idling for a bit. “Well Jessy seems nice,” Hunter eventually says, though he doesn’t lose the small smile on his face.

“So does Drift,” Sam replies, though his is more teasing than actual truth.

“Yeah, he’s a piece of work.” Complete with a small sigh of fondness.

Sam would have interrogated Hunter further, but he didn’t think he needed to. It’s difficult to accept that he himself had a crush on someone, much less that his father figure had one too; and on his crush’s dad no less.

This was shaping up to be a great summer.


	2. First Days of Summer: Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessy's all better now, Drift sees Hunter shirtless for the second time, and Sam tries his best not to mess anything up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me stress that this is very unusual and I doubt you'll see back to back daily chapters of this up again. At least, I think. I'm really not sure, the muse on this story is strong.

The next morning, Sam wakes up to the sound of Hunter’s voice downstairs. In the small beach house bedroom, everything was some shade of blue or white, and when he had been younger it had made him feel like he was sleeping on a cloud. Now, he wasn’t so naïve, but it still made him smile when he woke up in a mass of white pillows and blankets.

This morning, however, he awoke, and the first thing that came to mind was, _find my phone._ He’d spent the whole night texting Jessy, going back and forth about anything they really could find to talk about. Once they’d overcome the initial awkwardness, they’d had a few good exchanges, until Jessy had stopped responding, around 11:30pm. But given that he had only been released from the hospital seven hours prior, Sam couldn’t really blame him. He debated for a good 15 minutes about whether to send a goodnight text or not, and in the end, he wound up doing so.

Once he had found his phone, buried in the covers down by his ankles, he plugs it in to charge it and scrolls through his messages.

**Jessy | 5:30am :: Odds are you aren’t up, but I usually get up at this time. I’ll be back in like three hours, I got breakfast and training and Dad and all that, but I’ll be around after that.**

Sam chuckles reading the message. Leave it to Jessy to have proper grammar in his texts.

**Jessy | 8:35am :: Alright, I’m back now. Just, text me whenever. Dad’s got classes now so I’m just laying around, doing nothing.**

It was only nine when Sam had awoken. Would it seem too enthusiastic or desperate to text him too soon? Probably.

He was going to do it anyway. Sending off a quick “Just got up, how’s ur head?” he then brought his phone and charger down into the kitchen, plugging it back in downstairs. He gives as silent wave to Hunter as he passes through the living room briefly, walking outside to grab the paper.

The side column on the front side of the local newspaper made him pause. The headline read ‘SUMMER EXCITEMENT AT ITS PEAK: NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE NEAR PIER’. The phone goes off, and he reaches to grab it blindly.

**Jessy | 9:03am :: It’s nothing a little Ibuprofen won’t fix. By the way, did you see the newspaper?**

**Me | 9:03am :: Looking at it now. Funny how neither of our names are mentioned, even though we’re not minors**

**Jessy | 9:04am :: Turn the page before you make judgements. It’s quite a flattering picture, I look dead.**

Sam unfolds to where the story continues, noting how the story truly did continue. It went into a ridiculous amount of detail about where the two of them had come from and what they had been doing on the beach. And sure enough, in the middle of the page, was a picture taken by a beach goer, of Jessy on the stretcher, with Hunter, Drift, and Sam standing around him.

**Me | 9:06am :: Well I mean…**

**Jessy | 9:07am :: Oh hush.**

He hears Hunter starting to end the call, and pops some waffles in the toaster. The texting continues for a long while until Jessy asks, kind of unexpectedly, if he could come over. Sam can’t deny that the question makes him grin, and he looks over at Hunter, now approaching him with a coffee mug in his hand.

“Hey, Dad, got a question.”

Hunter just grunts into his coffee as a go ahead to ask it, reaching up and ruffling Sam’s hair affectionately.

Sam makes a face, but pulls a plate out for his waffles anyway. “Can Jessy come over? His dad has a break in classes so he could drive him over.”

“So soon after the fall?” Hunter asks, finishing the muffin he’d started before the call. “Are you sure Drift’s okay with that? He didn’t seem to me like the forgiving type.”

“Well, I mean, I’m sure he’s going to come over and grill you on if he thinks you can take care of his kid, but I’m sure you’ll do fine,” he replies, catching the warmed waffles from the toaster and spreading butter on them. Next comes some blueberries, and then after that, maple syrup and chocolate sauce.

“I mean, I’d love for him to come over, but if you die of unhealthy habits, I can’t say he’d have a fun time partying with a corpse,” the elder man replied, poking Sam’s arm good-naturedly. Sam, in retaliation, sprayed some whipped cream on the waffles, before victoriously carrying his waffles over to the breakfast table.

“Partying with a corpse, now that could be a new theme for you.”

“Ah, right. Next to fiestas with skeletons, and soirees for devils.”

“Now you’re talking!” Sam replies around a mouthful of waffles.

Hunter smirks a bit, coming around the side of the island and sitting down in the chair beside Sam. “I’m sure my boss would appreciate that in our next call. You tell him he can come over, I’m going to shower real quick. You be good, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam hums, smiling at the prospect of having Jessy back with him.

Though, as he types the go ahead to Jessy, he notices Hunter still hasn’t left yet. He looks up at him as he swirls the blueberry into the syrup and whipped cream, waiting for Hunter to continue.

“Just…make sure to behave yourself, alright? I don’t have to go anywhere, so I’m entrusting you with the car. And I know that there’s really not a lot to do here, so you can go into the city if you want. But, please, for my sake of mind, just…” he trails off, not sure where to go from there.

But Sam knows where he’s coming from. “I get it Hunter. I’ll be fine, I promise. And since I am driving, I’ll be sure to follow all the laws and all that. Do you want me to text you once we figure out what we’re doing and where we’re going? We may end up just hanging out here, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, no, yeah that’s fine. And if you do go out, then yes please, keep me filled in.” Hunter trusted Sam a lot, but after what had happened to Sam’s mom, it was understandable that Hunter wanted a bit more security with the only family that he really had.

Sam gives him a promising smile, before finishing his waffles. His phone buzzes, and he checks the text quickly. “Jessy says they’ll be here in like 20 minutes, you may want to hurry up.”

Hunter swallows the rest of his coffee as fast as he dares, and then presses a kiss to Sam’s hair. “Alright, clean up while I’m up there.”

“Mmhmm, shave your beard!”

“Nooo!”

With Hunter running up the stairs to shower, Sam sets about cleaning up the lower level of the house. Replacing pillows where they should have been, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, and opening the window to let some sea breeze in pretty much took care of it. He leaves his phone on the charger downstairs in favor of getting dressed, throwing on a rusty red tank top and black shorts. He wanders into the bathroom to attempt to make his hair not as baby duckling like, and brushes his teeth, ridding them of the sugar from the syrup.

He hears the doorbell ring, and – thinking Hunter was already dressed – loudly instructs him to get it, around a mouthful of toothpaste.

It couldn’t be that bad, right?

Downstairs, Hunter – still wearing nothing but a towel, but not caring enough either way, reaches down and opens the door, fully expecting it to just be Jessy. He’d save the kid any embarrassment by just saying that Sam would be down shortly, and then go right back upstairs the way he had came.

But it was not Jessy standing in the doorway. Or, rather, Jessy, _was,_ but he wasn’t alone. Drift stood beside him, arms crossed over his chest in the tight orange shirt he wore. His piercing gaze was the same as before, although this time it focused more intently on Hunter’s physique.

He took a bit of pride in that fact.

“You guys can come in, Sam’ll be down in a sec.” He moves a bit out of the way, standing adjacent to the door now, offering them a way into the house. Jessy squeezes in first, clearly wanting to be out of the staring contest between the two adults.

The house is a bit strangely set up. The staircase is right in front of the front door, and to the immediate left was the family room, complete with a large black sectional filling the lowered family room. There was an island in the relatively small kitchen that connected to the rest of the counter tops, which the back of the couch was pushed up against. The kitchen was on the same level as the rest of the house, making the family room more of a draw than anything else.

The kitchen had white cabinetry with a sky blue wall, and white tile floor. A screen and glass door lead out to the backyard, where Jessy could see two lawn chairs stretched out with a table between them both. A hammock was also out there, though it was collapsed, and gently swayed in the ocean breeze.

To the right of the doorway and staircase was a formal dining room that had been transformed into more of an office than anything. A desk complete with two filing drawers, a desktop, and spinny office chair against the far wall, between the two dish cases. Upon closer inspection, only one of the cases actually held any dishes; the other was all photographs and memorabilia of the two occupants in the house. There was a dining table in the room as well, but it primarily held a bunch of papers scattered around with pencil drawings and numbers on them, as well as a surprising amount of potted plants. From what Jessy could see, this large dining space led into a sun/mud room in the back, which connected to the kitchen.

On all the walls were posters from old movies from before his age, and some family pictures. It was obvious that the man in them was Hunter, and the baby was Sam; but the woman was only in a few of them, and she didn’t have the complexion to be Sam’s biological mother. Or, maybe she did, and Hunter wasn’t the father? Sam had said something about that.

Really, that was one of the mysteries Jessy looked forward to learning about the most.

Up the white and tan wooden stairs were more pictures, and what looked like a bathroom at the very top. It was there that Sam came out of, jogging down the stairs with a slowing pace. “Dad. When I said open the door, I thought you were dressed. Go upstairs.”

“You're so rude to me, and you’re taking my car and everything,” Hunter replied, relieved to have an excuse to look away from the piercing stare of the smaller man. “But yeah. Drift, Jessy’ll be just fine. Does he have to take anything, or…?”

“He has taken enough medication. Take your son’s advice and go get dressed. This conversation can wait,” Drift replies, looking to the inside of the house.

Hunter raises an eyebrow at Drift’s address, but follows what he had asked and turns to leave.

It’s a quiet moment between Sam, Jessy, and Drift, before Sam just says, “So, uh, welcome to our beach house, I guess. There’s not a lot, but that’s really what it’s for.” He steps down into the family room and gives Jessy a look that said “help me.”

Jessy, taking pity on the poor boy, turned to his father. A few words were spoken, and then Jessy was grabbing Sam’s hand and leading him upstairs. “I thought a distraction may be worthwhile,” Jessy says, going on instinct towards where he thought Sam’s bedroom to be. He was correct, in all honesty, though Sam was a bit preoccupied with the feeling of Jessy’s hand around his.

The two teens enter the blue and white room, and Sam closes the door. “Yes, thank you. That was very much appreciated.”

“You know he is not going to hurt you, right?” Jessy says, raising an eyebrow at Sam.

“Well, sure, but you have to understand that he’s got this, like, intense…” He’s moving his hands around as he tried to come up with a word for it.

“Stare?”

“I was going to say aura, but that works too.”

Jessy just grins at him, before turning to look at the pictures on the shelves by the windows. “Are all these of you?” He hears a rustling in the sheets and casts a glance over at Sam, who was laying across his bed, with his head hanging over the edge closest to Jessy.

The pictures were the ones that were a bit too intimate for just the main hallway. These were pictures of him straight out of the hospital, his mom still in her gown, with him curled in her arms. Another was when Hunter had held him for the first time; Sam’s entire hand was smaller than Hunter’s pinky, at the time. A third was his mom and Hunter holding him in front of the beach house; the summer they had bought it.

“Yeah, all those are of me. Me, my mom, and Hunter. He’s my uncle, if that’s what you were wondering,” he adds, catching the look of confusion on Jessy’s face. “He’s my mom’s brother. I’m his nephew. But he’s also my legal guardian, so I just call him “dad” for the ease of it.” There, sufficient backstory to keep Jessy satisfied, and to keep him from wondering about possible…not so kosher relationships his mom may have had.

Jessy blushes as Sam cures all his worries in one quick discussion. “Yes, that makes sense.” He knew, from experience, not to press about where Sam’s mom was now. Some things were better left unsaid.

Outside the closed door of Sam’s room, Hunter finally walks down the stairs, and the conversation’s easily overheard by the two teens. Jessy sits on the edge of the bed closest to the door, looking at Sam to make sure it was fine. He didn’t see any discomfort, so he allowed himself to relax against the nearest bed post.

“I was beginning to wonder if you owned shirts.” Drift’s first reaction upon seeing Hunter; was that positive?

“Oh, yeah, you’ve seen me mostly shirtless. Tends to happen, I get a little too comfortable, clothes just start coming off.” _Damn it Dad._

“Right, well, you said you would not be accompanying the boys to wherever they chose to go today. I have classes in the afternoon, so I cannot. I will admit, I had expected you to be there.”

“I trust Sam with the car and with his money, and he knows the city here pretty well. They may end up just going to the museum or whatever, he’ll let me know what he chooses to do. Is there a time Jessy should be back by? Sam can just drop him off if Jessy gives him the address.”

There’s a small silence, and Sam sits up on the bed, hearing the mattress creak in a way that was a bit too suggestive of what the boys could have been getting up to behind closed doors. Literally. All four occupants of the house freeze at that small sound, Sam blushing bright red and Jessy putting his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.

The tense silence continues, before Drift finally breaks it. “By dinner is fine. So, by 8 o’clock at the latest.”

“Can do, Drift. Shouldn’t be an issue.”

There’s another moment of silence, before Drift turns back towards the door. “My classes start in a half hour. I will get going. Jessy has been instructed to be on his best behavior; do not hesitate to tell me if he acts otherwise,” he instructs as he returns to the doorway.

Hunter follows him, a smile on his face. “I doubt he’ll cause much trouble. But it’s not a problem, I’d be sure to let you know…”

That gives Drift pause. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t have your number.”

Upstairs, Sam wants to bite his own pillow. Is Hunter _seriously_ using nearly the same line he had used on Jessy only the day before?

“Oh…of course.”

 _And it was still working??_ Sam looks at Jessy with a raised eyebrow, and Jessy meets him with a similar look. But soon Drift and Hunter actually said their final goodbyes, and Hunter called up the stairs, “You guys have free reign, I’ll be on calls most of the afternoon. Help yourself to whatever; Sam, if you leave, you know what to do.”

“Thanks, gotcha!” He waits until he hears Hunter back at the computer again, before rolling to face Jessy. “So…with that out of the way…”

“I am not quite sure what you’d like for us to do. I know it was my idea, but I needed to get out of the house. After being in the hospital for so long, I want to stop feeling like I’m on constant watch, you know?” Jessy says, shrugging quietly.

Sam nods, humming. Looking out the window, he finally could force himself to tune in to nature’s sounds, the gentle crash of the surf on the beach, and the wheels of cars on the street below. He catches the glint of the sun off the Jeep’s keys by his bedside table, and he sits up promptly.

“C’mon, I got a place we can go.”

He stands off the bed, grabbing the keys and Jessy’s hand to lead him downstairs. It’s a small house, Jessy literally couldn’t have gotten lost if he _tried,_ but the feeling of his hand in Sam’s was really nice and he didn’t want to fight it. Taking his phone off the charger in the kitchen, he stops to put on shoes and wave a goodbye to Hunter.

The two get in the car – at this point they have to let go of their hands, though that neither of them had done so yet, neither thought to mention – and Sam begins to drive them to their destination.

“It’s in the city, so it’s a bit away, but we’ll do fine. It’s essentially a giant mall, but there’s this one coffee place in there that has _ridiculously_ good blueberry pie once the berries are in season. And since you said you’d never been here before, I thought it’d be a good welcome dish,” Sam explains.

“A _coffee_ place that makes _pies_?”

“Well, they’re technically little tarts, but they market them as pies, so…I take what I can get. If we get there while it’s slow, they’ll heat them up and put vanilla ice cream on them. Tastes so good, even though it’s the summer, and all hot and all that.”

Jessy nods, thinking this information over. “I take it you go there a lot?”

“Oh yeah, lots of times. My mom first introduced me and Hunter to it. Turns out her mom – my grandma – had worked there when she was a girl, we’re actually from here. Well, at least she is.”

“Right.” More clues to the mystery that was Sam. But still…

“Hey, quick question?”

“Shoot.”

“What’s your last name?”

“Katsumoto; and yours?”

Sam just chuckles. “Lee. Again; simple name for a simple guy.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Sam,” Jessy teases, adjusting himself in the passenger seat so he’s sitting more comfortably, watching the town pass by. “I don’t think you’re simple at all.”


	3. First Days of Summer: Act III, Scene I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, maybe the truth is I just can't stop. This chapter comes in two parts; Scene I and Scene II. Both are going to be posted right now, so just keep waiting. It's building, I promise you.
> 
> These scenes are also a bit smaller in length than some of the other chapters, just because I wrote them all in one giant document and then divided it where I saw fit. It's really just story time.

Weeks in the summer pass by both faster and slower than regular weeks. The days are longer, and everything seems possible in the infinite amount of time that summer break gives you. On the other hand, everything is rushed, between filling out forms for college, making sure aid packages are where they should be, and planning exactly how to pack for the next four years of education, all while supposedly on vacation.

Despite all that, Sam and Jessy still found time to spend with each other. In fact, it was kind of easy to do so, when the two of them now had an _academic_ excuse to do so. It turns out, both of them were going to the same school, which meant both of them had about the same amount of forms to fill out, same amount of packing to do, and same amount of stress in their minds.

Somehow, shouldering the burden with someone else, made it a little bit more exciting than just dreary.

With their newfound commonalities, the two teens spent a lot more time together, with Sam showing Jessy around the city and town he had come to live in, and Jessy showing Sam varying tricks even beginner level players could do. Sam himself had a natural athleticism to his build, he was just a naturally lazy person. He could do static exercises and run for miles, but team sports and constant practice made him yawn.

Still, Jessy found it amusing to watch him practice along the beach. He also found it very _fulfilling_ to see Sam leaving the ocean whenever they took a day or two to spend on said beach. And though Sam wouldn’t say anything, Jessy could feel his eyes whenever he did the same.

After the first time they had gone to the coffee shop, Jessy had become hooked on the small, mini pie complete with ice cream and whipped cream, and Sam wished he had thought to record the event. The shocked chewing, coupled with wide eyes and a gasp of surprise and happiness, were all things Sam would have loved to repeat.

They go back to that shop many times, using it and its free wifi as a place to bring work and just each other, and spend some time away from their parents.

Today was one of those days. With backpacks empty save for laptops and printed versions of forms to be filled out, the boys sat across from each other at their table in the back. The booth, for Jessy, who tended to sit cross-legged on the material, and drink his drinks with two hands, which made Sam smile. The chair, for Sam, who tended to sit with his knees five miles apart and take sips without hands, his mouth instead searching for the straw by itself.

When they had arrived, it had been good weather. A bit overcast and windy, but still warm. But the longer they stayed, the darker the clouds became, until a crack of thunder echoed overhead. Sam had the pretense to go out and close the windows of the Jeep, to ensure the interior wasn’t ruined, but neither he nor Jessy were ready to leave the warm shop. Besides, with most patrons heading for their homes anyway, they figured they may as well make the most of it.

They talked about a lot of things, what classes they wanted to take, what types of professors they hoped they had, what their favorite and leas favorite subjects were, but eventually they ran out of things to say. There was a lull, broken only by the causal sipping of Sam, and the light clicks from Jessy’s phone as he texted Drift to let him know he was still at the coffee shop, and with the storm, probably wouldn’t be leaving soon.

The moment he finishes sending the text, the clouds open up, releasing what sounded like gallons of water. The world outside looks like it’s melting and vibrating at the same time, the squalls were so bad.

“That is both pretty and terrifying,” Jessy muses, looking out at the streets around him.

“As are most things,” Sam agrees, finishing his lemonade. He looks at Jessy, fidgeting with the straw wrapper he held between his index finger and thumb. “Jessy…if you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your mom?”

Jessy’s jaw tightens just the slightest bit as he continues to stare at the rain, before he turns and looks at Sam. “She didn’t want me.” Even though he’s come to grips with it, it still burns a bit to know that he, for whatever reason, had pushed his own mother away. “I think she would have been okay to stay with my father, if I hadn’t been there. But he didn’t want to give me up, and gave her an ultimatum. She could either choose to raise the family she had helped create, or leave it forever. She chose the latter option.”

Sam’s stunned a bit into silence, but gingerly presses on. “Did your dad ever --?”

“No, he never remarried. I was only an infant when this happened, I wouldn’t remember it were it not for him telling me once I was about four. He wanted me to hear it from him first, not anyone else. We lived in a small town there, everyone knew everyone else’s business. Some of the kids approached me at school, called me names and stuff, because I didn’t have a mom. At the time, it really hurt. Now, I’m just grateful that I had my father at the time. He took on both roles.”

Jessy casts a look up at Sam, and continues on with his story. “The bullying and names continued for a little bit, until I joined soccer and chichi made it clear he wasn’t going to let the teachers allow the other students to treat me that way.”

“Chichi?”

“Means ‘father’ in Japanese.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, continue.”

There’s a smile from the Asian teen, before he continues. “Well, I let myself pull through it until…well, I guess the equivalent over here would be middle school. That was when I had all these…negative thoughts towards my father. He worked so hard to support me, and I still blamed him for letting my mother go. Those years were very straining on our relationship, and then one day when I was about fifteen, I asked him why he didn’t just move on.”

“He told me that he didn’t move on because he didn’t think it would be fair to me. He said that I was his son and a growing boy and I deserved more attention than he would be able to give me if he were to start dating. Well, he called it ‘courting’ but it’s the same thing. He’s just old.”

That gets a chuckle from the two boys, lightening the mood a bit.

“I think that was a part of it,” Jessy adds, as he picks a bit at the salad he had ordered for lunch. “His age. He was kind of late in the game when I was born, he waited until 33. My mom was 25 at the time. He doesn’t get into too many details of how they got together, and I really don’t ask. But by this time, he was in his late 40’s, and I don’t think he was really all that comfortable with the idea of it. Although, to be honest, he may end up changing that philosophy…”

“Regardless, by the time I was in my third year of high school, I was ready to graduate.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Sam chipped in, his chin resting on his forearms as he listened to the story.

“No, I mean, I had finished all my classes. I was ready to graduate a year early.”

“ _Well then._ ”

Jessy blushes a bit, the tips of his ears turning pink as he listened to Sam’s reaction. “Well, it was part of a bigger plan. I didn’t do it just for kicks. Once I got all the credits I needed, I graduated a year early, and then we moved here to America the following summer. Chichi had started taking care of the legalities once we had determined we were moving here about two years prior to this. We got our green cards all set through chichi’s job as an instructor for martial arts, and I took America’s last year of high school over again, just to practice my English. I got better, I think. It was mostly slang and the pace for speaking clearly. I could talk fast before, it just wouldn’t make sense. Your words are shaped differently.”

“Uh huh. So, once you’ve been here for a few years?”

“We apply for naturalization and get dual citizen ship for America and Japan. It will probably happen once I am a sophomore or junior in college.”

Sam makes a noise of understanding, and thinks it over. So, despite his mom leaving him when he was an infant, Jessy had still turned out to be a pretty good kid, and Drift had done so much for him in the process. “That’s…quite a story.”

“Yes, I know. I did live it, after all,” Jessy replies, a small smile still on his face. It hurt to talk about, but it still gave him hope. Everything was better now, at least he hoped so. He had faith. “So, what about you? What’s your story?”

“Mine?” Brown eyes look up at Jessy with a bit of a raised eyebrow. “Mine, I shall tell, after I get additional cookies. Do you want some?”

“Oatmeal please. And a refill on my tea.”

Sam takes the cup and slides his $10 bill between his teeth, and walks back over to the counter.

Jessy turns back out at the window, watching the storm rage outside. He bites his lower lip a bit, thinking over what he had done. It was _his_ past, he could share it with who he wanted…but it was also his father’s. And a sore spot, to be sure.

But here, in this little coffee shop, he felt safer having this conversation than he’d ever had before. Even his first girlfriend hadn’t made him feel this way – maybe that was why it wasn’t difficult to say goodbye when he had graduated early.

He couldn’t deny, though, that the way Sam made him feel, made him apprehensive to any time spent apart. He knew Sam’s beach house was here, and that he actually lived, full time, elsewhere. Though, with them going to the same college, they’d come up with more time to spend with each other. Both boarding students, and all.

His thoughts are interrupted by the gentle sound of his tea being put down in front of him, and the plate of warmed chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies on the table. The steam from the cookies and tea curls up against the cold glass from outside, the rain now background noise for the two boys. It’s like an affectionate cat, brushing up and along the logo of the coffee shop, disrupted only by Jessy blowing on the tea to cool it.

“Alright,” Sam sighs as he sits down. “Now, it’s my turn.”


	4. First Days of Summer: Act III, Scene II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the other half. :)

Jessy watches Sam expectantly, not pressuring him, but direly curious as to how the interactions spanned out. Within the pictures in his home, and the way Sam changed his address to Hunter nearly all the time – sometimes by name, sometimes by “Dad”, and sometimes, in passing, as “my uncle” – Jessy had been awaiting this moment for a while.

“So, mine’s kind of sad, but in a different way. I’m the result of a one night stand, or spring fling, or whatever you want to call it,” Sam begins, pinching a bit at the end of the cookie in his hands. “I have no siblings. My mom was a college senior at the time, and was on Spring Break in Hawaii.”

All of a sudden, the appearance of the boy made a lot more sense, as well. With his darker skin, black hair, and brown eyes, Sam didn’t really fit in with his mom or Hunter in all those family photos. Now, it made sense.

“I don’t know who my father was. I never really had a chance to ask. My mom found out she was pregnant, and decided to keep me, against my grandparent’s wishes. We…don’t really talk to them anymore. This is one of those reasons. Well…I’m one of those reasons. Hunter’s the other one.”

He sighs a bit and looks up at Jessy. “Sorry, I’m getting a bit off track…”

“No, no it’s fine. Take your time. Sometimes stories are convoluted in how we tell them, but it is what makes sense to us,” Jessy reassures him, reaching across the table and gently taking Sam’s hand in his own. Both boys blush at the touch, but neither move away.

“Thank you.” The words are more mouthed than whispered, but Sam still means them. “Anyway…she decided to keep me, and had me in October of that year. She and Hunter raised me – he’s older than her, so he already had a job and living accommodations and all that. He’d babysit me while she was working, and he helped pay for all the stuff that makes a baby so expensive. And then, when I was six…she died.”

“I was at Hunter’s house at the time, and she had forgotten something at the office. A drunk driver drove straight into her at an intersection. She died instantly.”

The sound of the rain outside and the baristas cleaning counters in the back were the only sounds for a few moments. Though this took place 13 years ago, Sam still felt his mother’s loss in more ways than one. In a way, he envied Jessy. At least Jessy had a clean break.

“After the funeral, Hunter took me in as his own child. He was doing really well with his own job, so he was able to put me through school and sports teams and all that. He did the best he could given what had happened. She was the only family that he really had, since he had been all but kicked out of the family once he graduated college.”

Another mystery, but this seems to be pain of a bit of a different sort. It’s more anger than just true sadness.

“Anyway, I went through the same thing you did. A lot of anger once I grew up a bit more, I’d grow distant from him for days at a time. I didn’t really know what to call him or how to describe what I was. Some of the kids at school would call me names because – I mean, if you look around, it’s a predominately white area we’re in, and I didn’t really fit the bill. But yeah, I just kind of grew out of it. Hunter supported me the whole way through. And now…that’s where we are now.”

Silence falls over the two of them as they both look down to their hands. Jessy brings his thumb up to gently run along Sam’s palm, and the motion leads to them slowly folding their fingers together. The rain continues to pour down outside, but neither of the boys are chilled.

Jessy’s tea lays half full between them, the warm scent mixing pleasantly with the cooling cookies. Sam’s lemonade glass was full only of melting ice, standing off on the side of the table. Both Sam and Jessy’s wrists were decorated with bracelets and watches. Old paper admission ones from fairs that summer, thread ones and bead ones they had bought, the rubber ones like Livestrong, and a watch apiece littered across both of their wrists.

Looking down at them, remembering the memories they carried, brought a careful smile to the boy’s faces. Most of them had been earned with the other, and with their fingers linked like this, it looked like their memories would continue to be interwoven with each other.

A few more moments pass, before the vibrating of both their phones makes them jump a bit, their hands separating. Jessy’s is a call; Sam’s is only a text.

“Moshi moshi, chichi…” and from there Sam stops listening so intently. He can’t really understand what’s being said, but he knows it’s Drift on the phone, since the Japanese is rather fluent. Meanwhile, he just answers Hunter’s text, and sets about putting the dishes back in the appropriate bin for them.

A few minutes pass before Jessy ends the call, and they both turn to look outside. “Dad says that it’s not raining as hard once we get off the highway – we just have to make it from here to the highway, and then it’ll be less shitty. But he says only do it if you trust me to get you there safely,” Sam explains, holding the car keys in his hand as he waits for Jessy’s verdict.

“My father said the same thing. And we have been out for a while…”

“Five hours, by my estimate.”

“Well…as for what your uncle said, I trust you to get us back safely,” Jessy decides, reaching for his bag. Sam does the same, and though it’s a mad dash back to the car to avoid getting totally soaked, they make it. Sam almost slips, making Jessy laugh in the process, and the American blushes as he mutters, “Shut up.”

Jessy’s still laughing as he tosses their bags in the back seat, replying, “Make me.”

Sam, still blushing from the near fall, simply says, “Fine,” before he does probably the dumbest and bravest thing he’s ever done. He reaches up and pulls Jessy over the console and into a kiss.

There’s a moment where both of them are frozen, really unsure of how to go about fixing whatever may have broken in that moment. But Jessy defrosts the fastest and pulls Sam closer, making it quite clear that he _wants_ this. That’s all the encouragement that Sam needs to follow what he wants, and keep kissing Jessy.

It’s not long before Jessy’s climbed over the console – really, it’s not that difficult of a task for someone as nimble as he is – and is now sitting in Sam’s lap. The driver side window is beginning to fog up a bit with their breaths, but neither boy wants to stop. It’s a good ten minutes of kissing and running fingers through hair, before they finally part to catch their breath.

“How…how long?” Jessy asks, leaning back against the steering wheel, but not hard enough that he’d accidentally press the horn.

“All summer,” came the shy reply. Sam noted with some satisfaction that Jessy’s lips were flushed, though he had few doubts of Jessy leaving the same mark on his own face.

“And you…you didn’t say anything?”

“I didn’t think you’d want something like this, especially cuz you said you were new, and I honestly thought that you already would be dating someone.”

“Why would you think that??” Now Jessy’s the one who’s a bit shy, even though as he was straddling Sam’s lap. The shyness and the flushed expression he wore turned Sam on a little bit, and he pulled Jessy down so he could kiss him once more.

“You’re devastatingly attractive, that’s why.”

Jessy hides his face in Sam’s neck, whining a bit. “That’s…a matter of opinion. I don’t think so.”

“And I do. So. Case and point,” Sam retorts, rubbing his hands along the outside of Jessy’s thighs.

Outside, the rain has finally stopped, and Jessy has to be the voice of reason. “We really have to get going…”

“Yeah, of course…” Sam can’t deny that he’s a bit disappointed, but Jessy alleviates it with a gentle kiss to his mouth.

“I’ll ask my father if we can stay for dinner. Then if you want I can text your uncle as well, while you drive.” There’s a hopeful smile there as he crawls back into the passenger seat, buckling up again.

“Sure, that can work.” The fluttery feeling from before has only gotten worse now that he knows he can _have_ what he’s been hoping for all summer, and he leans back in the seat as he begins to drive them out of there.

Sam wasn’t worried about telling Hunter that he and Jessy were pursuing anything together, at all. Drift, on the other hand, would be an entirely different battle. 


	5. First Days of Summer: Act IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boys got a lil frisky in this chapter, and what would have been a serious heart to heart turned into complete fluff instead. Enjoy! Beware smut.

Now that Sam and Jessy had overcome their original unresolved tension with each other, they made the best out of every chance they had to spend together. They’d go further along the beach towards the volleyball courts, climb back up onto the grass by the basketball court, and make out by the trees back there. Trips into the city were done on a weekend basis, resulting in makeouts in the car, and occasionally making a mess of each other whenever they had the chance.

They didn’t shy away from trying to explore things with each other. Sam had had a few flings before Jessy, but no long term relationships. Jessy had divulged that he’d dated a girl for a few months, but there really hadn’t been anything there. The move had saved him from having to initiate the breakup by himself.

So far, nothing had gone farther than hand jobs and hickies purposefully left where clothing would hide them. Both felt a little guilty going much farther without telling either of their parents what they were up to, but some days…it was difficult to stop.

At this point, there were only a handful of weeks left of summer, but Sam and Jessy treated every day like it was their last.

Jessy lay on top of Sam, with their legs entwined on the blanket they had stretched out beside the parked Jeep on the overlook of the beach. This late in the season, there were hardly any tourists, and the area was empty.

They’d just paused to attempt to catch their breath, Jessy’s chest marked with hickies as a mark of what they had been up to. Both their shirts were off, and Sam’s shorts were undone, but only Jessy’s hand trailed across his skin now.

“I want to try something,” Jessy murmurs against Sam’s neck.

“Mmm, go right ahead.” Sam turns his head away from Jessy, giving him more skin to play with and mark. The thinner teen took advantage of this offer and began to litter kisses down Sam’s body, pausing to flick his tongue over the two dark nipples he passed on the way down. The resulting arch and shiver from Sam made him continue the treatment, before he resumed his kissing.

Normally, this was the part where he pulled away, and instead gave Sam a handjob to give him release. But instead, the gentle tongue continued, now licking at the waistband of Sam’s boxers. Sam makes a startled noise of confusion, but Jessy presses on, now mouthing at the boy’s length through his dark boxers. Aside from the feel of cotton against his tongue, he could taste a bit of Sam’s precum, and feel the heat of his boyfriend’s arousal against his lips.

There’s no negative reaction from Sam, but Jessy’s gaze flicks upwards just to make sure Sam really did want it. An enthusiastic nod and reassuring smile was his answer.

He takes the boost of confidence that it gives him, and lowers his gaze to suckle more on Sam’s still covered tip. This continues for a bit, before Jessy pulls Sam’s boxers down, just the smallest bit, to dip his tongue along Sam’s tip.

Sam bucks his hips up in surprise, moaning softly. “That’s…that’s really good.” It was the first time he’d felt something like that, and it was the first time Jessy had done anything like it. But it felt nice, so why not push on with it?

The younger teen wraps his lips around the tip of Sam’s length, sucking gently as he grew more comfortable with the sensation. Judging from Sam’s moans, so far everything he had done felt good. Growing more confident, he pulls the edge of Sam’s boxers down a little more, now licking from base to tip. He himself was aching a bit, and wanted to get himself off as well. Reaching down, he palms himself through his own shorts, making sure to get Sam’s cock nice and wet from his mouth.

Not expecting the sudden wet warmth and suction that Jessy’s mouth and tongue provided, Sam’s hips bucked up a bit, wanting more of it. He wasn’t going to last long, and he gently tugs at Jessy’s hair to warn him.

Jessy moves to mouth along the side of Sam’s length, his hand coming up to finish Sam off. There’s a strained whimper from the elder boy before he finally cums, biting his knuckle to try and keep quiet. Jessy’s cheek and mouth are covered in stripes of cum, and he tentatively licks off the little bit that had seeped between his fingers.

Sam sits up, and watches the very attractive and obscene sight before him. To be honest, Jessy kind of looks like one of those girls in porn, suggestively licking up the guy’s cum. But on Jessy it’s a bit more…authentic. Natural. Less forced.

“You look hot.” He all but blurts it out, but he doesn’t want to take it back.

Jessy blushes, looking up at Sam with a raised eyebrow. “I do?” The challenging look he had melted away as he saw the appreciation in Sam’s eyes. “I…didn’t expect that.”

“Why not, you look amazing,” Sam insists, smiling shyly at Jessy. It’s a sight to behold, truly, but he helps clean his boyfriend up. “And…that felt really good, by the way. Thank you. Do you, uh…”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, I just wanted to try,” Jessy explains, though his own arousal demands attention. “I’m glad that you, um, liked it. I wouldn’t mind doing it again for you…”

Sam’s no fool, and he can see how Jessy is struggling a bit. “Is that so?” he asks, rolling them over and reaching down to palm Jessy’s length. He gently gives him a squeeze as he begins to kiss down his neck, mouthing over the younger teens Adams apple.

“Y-yes…!”

“Did it turn you on?” He’s a bit shy in going this route, but not above talking to Jessy to bring him over. He wasn’t sure if Jessy had a voice kink, though he was pretty sure he himself had an accent kink. “You looked so good sucking me off. Looked as fantastic as it felt.”

By now, Jessy’s quietly whimpering behind tightly closed lips, feeling Sam’s hand slip beneath the band of his underwear, now touching him fully. He’s leaking a bit from his tip, his length twitching in Sam’s hand.

“And even now, you feel fantastic. So hot, seeing you like this. I like when you lose composure, it’s beautiful when you writhe because it feels so good,” Sam presses on. He’s not going to suck Jessy off, not quite yet, mostly because to do so would mean he had to stop whispering into Jessy’s ear. “I can see you trying to keep quiet, too. You’re doing so well, too.”

As he spreads a bit of Jessy’s precum down his length, he tilts Jessy’s head towards him, claiming his lips in a kiss. He grins as Jessy turns the kiss hungry, rocking his hips to get some more friction from Sam’s hand.

“Cum for me, beautiful,” the American murmurs into the kiss, and hums in appreciation as Jessy lets his orgasm pass through him.

There’s a mess of Jessy’s cum on Sam’s hand and stomach, but he takes it as a mark of achievement. He wasn’t kidding, he did enjoy watching Jessy orgasm. It not only made him feel better about himself, but also was just an enjoyable experience. Tentatively, he licks at the cum on his thumb, and smiles a bit at the taste.

“That’s almost…sweet,” he murmurs, and Jessy blushes.

“W-well, I eat a lot of fruit, so…” He’s fidgeting, but that doesn’t stop him from wiping up the mess he had made on Sam’s stomach.

“I know, I’m the one that’s with you all the time.” He chuckles at Jessy’s indignant squeak, but lets him clean off his hand with the wipes they brought with them everywhere now.

“Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you have to rub it in,” the Japanese teen argues back, reaching for his shirt over Sam’s body.

Sam, however, has other plans, and wraps his arms around Jessy’s torso, pulling him back down against him. “Actually, it kind of does give me bragging rights. Just a little,” he replies, kissing over the marks he’d left on Jessy’s frame.

A quiet moan escapes the leaner boy, and he gives Sam an incredulous look. “Sam, we may not have time…”

“We’ll make time,” came the reassuring reply and hip roll, and that pulled Jessy into a rather definitive round 2.

* * *

A handful more encounters like this happened before Sam felt too guilty keeping it a secret any longer. He didn’t know how to bring it up in casual conversation, or if he and Jessy wanted to do it independently or together. He wasn’t anxious to tell Hunter at all, it was Jessy he was worried about – especially if it came down to “Hunter, I’m dating Jessy, but you can’t tell his dad, because he’s scary.”

Which, if he was being honest, was the truth.

Sam was petrified of Drift, despite Jessy’s assurances that his dad was almost harmless. “ _Almost,_ is the key word, Jessy,” Sam had replied, standing horrified at the wall of swords in the main area where class took place. “I’m telling you, he’s an ancient samurai.”

“The age is not correct, but your assumption of previous occupation is,” Drift had called as he came back into the house, walking silently past the boys and going up into his office. Jessy had known his dad had arrived, but didn’t think to tell Sam. With the wide eyes and gestures that followed, he was second guessing that choice.

So, Sam wouldn’t be coming out to Drift by himself. He’d let Jessy make that decision, after all it was his father in the first place. Jessy refused to tell Drift of his relationship without Sam in the room, so that made it clear that the both of them, together, would tell Drift of their relationship.

And as much as Jessy knew Hunter and Sam had a completely different relationship than he and Drift, he still offered to be there as support for Sam. So, as an act of including Jessy within that strange relationship they had, Sam made the choice to tell Hunter with Jessy there as well.

Then was just picking timing.

It would probably be in the middle of the day, that way if it didn’t work out there were no plans to cancel or anything. And Sam knew Hunter would not care either way that he was dating a boy; it was _who_ he was dating that he was worried about. He hadn’t thought that Drift and Hunter would become so…close. And now that they were, he was worried their friendship would be compromised by their respective child’s relationship with the other.

So, Sam was stressed. Jessy, as always, was the calming influence, telling him that it would be okay no matter what happened. They sat in the Nissan GTR that the Katsumoto’s owned, hands held on the console, for a good long while, looking at the beach house in front of them. The Jeep stood silently beside them, giving no clue as to what Hunter’s mood could have been.

“We should go,” Jessy begins, gently squeezing Sam’s hand. “Before it gets too late and my father wants me back home.”

“I know.” Sam’s voice is quiet, accepting, and with one small kiss for luck, both boys exited the car.

If they had paid attention, they might have noticed that there was a pair of shoes _outside_ the house’s front door; something neither Sam nor Hunter partook in. If they had paid attention, they may have noticed that the computer was completely powered off in the front window – and they had been assured that Hunter would be working all day, and that they should have fun while they could. If they had paid attention, they may have avoided what they were about to walk in on.

Needless to say, it was a shock to all of them. Sam almost dropped his keys, and Jessy gasped and had to look away, his grip tightening on Sam’s hand.

Hunter and Drift lay on the couch, both men shirtless, with bruises clearly identifiable beginning to appear on Hunter’s neck. They were locked in a kiss, but had sprung apart the moment Sam opened the front door – well, Drift sprang away, Hunter was handcuffed, so he couldn’t do anything.

It’s quiet and tense for a moment. Jessy still can’t look at his father, and Sam can’t seem to look away. Hunter’s blushing bright red, and finds himself sheepishly studying the leather of the couch he was laid out on, while Drift couldn’t seem to come up with words to justify why they were the way they were.

And then, driven by the foolish bravery unique to Americans, Sam blurted out, “WELL WE DO THAT TOO!” before promptly dragging Jessy back out to the car and all but pushing him at the driver’s seat.

They’d be spending the night at Jessy’s house, that much was clear.

* * *

Inside, Hunter looks up at Drift, still slightly panting from their shock and makeout. The buzz he had before was only slightly killed now, as it was difficult to even think rationally with Drift’s weight still on top of him. And this time was going to be fun, too…

“I…suppose we should have told them sooner,” Drift began, coughing slightly to hide his embarrassment.

“Yeah, probably. But that might’ve pressured them to tell us before they were ready,” Hunter begins, finally resigning himself to not getting what he had hoped. He sits up, bringing his cuffed hands down from over his head, now just resting them in his lap. “We had to give ‘em time.”

“Yes, that was wise. And to think they thought it was a secret,” the elder of the two agrees, chuckling softly.

“Hey, at that age, everything has to be a secret. Though, I don’t think Sam expected this from _you._ He knows I’m gay, but you…?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Now, the only bridge I’d like to see is the one your spine makes when I hit you just right.”

“Oh, you naughty man.”

“Only for you. Now, lay back down. I’m not done with you yet.”


	6. First Days of Summer: Act V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drift and Jessy have a mature conversation about dating; meanwhile, Hunter and Sam are nowhere near their boyfriend's capacity for maturity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaaaa this has been sitting half finished in my laptop for literally 3 months, I'm so sorry that it's taken so long, but here you are. The final installment of Arc 1 of this series - next is their Winter Vacations. Same story, just new arc. 
> 
> Also, I don't know if I ever explicitly stated this, but this story will take place over the course of a year, from summer pre-college to summer post-freshman year of college. And it's told through vacations - Summer vacation, winter break, spring break, summer vacation. So, all in all, 4 arcs, one of which is now finished. 
> 
> I apologize if this chapter seems kind of choppy, but it was more of a "wrap everything up to go into the next arc" chapter, and I haven't written for this series in quite some time, so...I just hope it flows.

After their embarrassing encounter with their parents, both boys were tiptoeing around the topic. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, to walk in on _anyone_ in that position; but that it was their own dads was even worse.

Drift was the first to have the conversation, coming to Jessy only two mornings later. It was breakfast, and Jessy was about to run off to get ready for the day, but Drift had other plans. In his typical, blunt manner, he began, “You may court whomever you choose, with the knowledge that I will hurt them if they bring you any harm.”

Jessy froze at this introduction to the conversation, and sighed, before continuing. “I understand. Sam is a good person, he won’t hurt me.”

“That may be so. But you are both young. You have much to learn about what a good relationship is,” Drift countered, watching his son with the smallest bit of trepidation. Yes, he was proud of the young man Jessy had become. Yes, he was incredibly proud of the opportunities he knew Jessy would have in America, and that he was still pushing to do the best he could.

But he was still a child. And he wanted to protect Jessy from any more disappointment and heartache in his life.

“Yes, I know,” Jessy begins gently. “But you know as well as I do that it has been a while since either of us have had a chance like this. I think it’s good for us both.”

“You have some valid points, Jeshii. Perhaps we will both learn from this.” He could sense Jessy’s apprehension in talking about Drift and Hunter’s relationship, and he admitted he wished he could have had the chance to tell Jessy ahead of time. But Hunter had convinced him not to, and now, he guessed, it was easier.

Like ripping off a bandage in one go, as opposed to slowly doing so.

“I think so too. Are you, um…” Jessy fidgets and blushes, looking down at his hands. “Going to see Hunter today?”

Drift blushes a bit as well, but continues to look at Jessy. “I may, in the afternoon, yes.”

“So, if I invited Sam over…?”

“You can, yes, but make sure to tell me if you leave the house.”

“Oh, we probably will. I think there’s an end of summer fair-type thing down at the pier. We might go down there. I’ll let you know, though, if we end up not doing it.”

A bit of a smirk tugs at Drift’s mouth, but he schools his expression easily. “And what else would you be doing that you would turn down a day in the sun?”

Jessy presses his lips together and just quietly whines, not wanting to put it into words – or even have this conversation in the first place. Sometimes it was fantastic having a father who was so perceptive, it saved him a lot of trouble in trying to explain why he was feeling the way he was, or trying to articulate a point. It had brought them closer during his troubled years as an early teenager, and he knew that Drift had, in a way, grown more perceptive _because_ of those years.

But now, it was just plain annoying.

“Normal boyfriend stuff, I guess. Maybe packing for college.” This was impossible to say with a straight face, and Jessy finds himself pouting at Drift. “I’m not asking what you and Hunter will be doing, why are you asking me?”

“Because I’m your father and it’s my job to make you uncomfortable,” Drift replies simply, standing up and patting Jessy’s head as he walks out of the kitchen. “Clear the table, then you can go prepare for whatever “boyfriend stuff” you have planned.”

Jessy sighed as Drift left, and begins to clear the table. At least that was one conversation out of the way.

* * *

Sam, on the other hand, had a much different conversation with Hunter.

“He’s _terrifying,_ what do you see in him??”

“Well, yeah, he’s kinda scary, but it’s in an attractive way? I guess?? I dunno, I’m not grilling you on Jessy!”

“That’s because Jessy is _my age_ and doesn’t have a child of his own who is dating my legal responsibility!”

“Hey, mister, you’re 19, you’re _technically_   _sort of not_ my legal responsibility any longer. _And_ I know for a fact that you two have been doing this for much longer than what you said you did 2 days ago.”

Sam snorts, his hands on the table as he stares at Hunter with wide eyes. “And you think I _wanted_ to see you in handcuffs, on the couch, with my boyfriend’s _dad_ making out with you?”

Hunter bites his lower lip, blushing, and looking to the side. “Well no…look, we would have told you, we just didn’t want to pressure you into coming out to us before you were ready. And, as much as I love you kid, I am kinda…able to get my own life started now. You’re going to college, and I’m just here working, so…”

The teen looks down, nodding along with Hunter’s words. Of course he was right, he usually was, but this still felt…strange. His entire life Hunter had been single, and aside from the stories that he’d told him of his college adventures, he’d been pretty content to be that way. Drift had changed that.

Who was Sam to stand in the way of Hunter’s happiness?

“I…understand. I just wish that you had told me sooner. I understand why you didn’t, but…I kind of wished I’d found out another way,” Sam replies, looking up to meet Hunter’s gaze. “And…for what it’s worth, I hope he makes you happy.”

“Just like I hope Jessy does the same for you,” Hunter adds, smiling gently. “Though…it’ll be weird, legally…”

“You’re not planning on marrying him right now, are you?”

“Well, no, but it never hurts to plan ahead.”

Sam huffs and stands off the couch, rolling his eyes. “We’ll cross that when we come to it. Which won’t be for a while, you’ve only been with him for…wait.” He turns around, giving Hunter a quizzical look. “How long _have_ you two been together?”

There’s a sheepish blush from the older man. “Um…remember that time that I was late getting you two from the movies? And you were a little bit peeved because it was raining? And the Katsumoto’s car was in the shop so you had no ride?”

Sam slowly nods, before saying carefully, “That was 2 months ago…Jessy and I weren’t even together then.”

“Yeah, well…I was late because –”

“Say no more, say no more,” Sam quickly cuts him off, shaking his head. “I don’t need specifics. Got it. 2 months long.”

Hunter just smiles, a faint blush coloring his cheeks and displaying his smattering of freckles. “Yes, so…thank you. For your blessing, or whatever that counts as. And, for the record, now that all of this is out in the open…Drift is coming over later today, so…”

“Say no more, say no more. I’m going to go take a shower and then I’ll be on the beach. If Jessy swings by, just point him outside for me.” He ruffles Hunter’s hair as he walks upstairs.

Openness wasn’t a foreign concept in their household, but it certainly had never come to this level before. Then again; warnings were appreciated.

* * *

The rest of summer passed by in a haze of pink lemonade in mason jars, blueberry pies, and kisses under the stars. Towards the end of August, there were a few meetups with people from the area who also would be going to their school.

Parents got to meet other parents, dates were had, and before they knew it they were being dropped off at school.

It’s colder, further upstate, away from the beach.

Sam wears a pair of rusty red skinny jeans and a black t-shirt, matching his black and yellow checkered Vans that he had deemed his “move in day shoes” back when he had bought them.

Jessy wears the opposite, something unplanned, but still cute nonetheless. Black skinny jeans, red t-shirt, and white and red checked scarf was the outfit of choice for the Japanese teen. Carrying his bags into the dorm, he meets his roommate for the first time. A nice kid, more outgoing than Jessy himself. He said his name was Aaron, and he was hoping to go into engineering – a path Hunter had debated taking, but hadn’t had the chance to, as he’d really gone for computer programming and graphic design in the end.

(The best part of that exchange was that Aaron had admitted that he’d hosted foreign exchange students before, and through a combination of classes and just talking with them, had conversational Japanese down pretty well – which, of course, had made Drift’s approval rating increase a little bit, as demonstrated by the smallest twitch of a smile on his face. Jessy had almost laughed.)

Upstairs, Sam was meeting his roommate for the first time as well, a tall but thin kid from England named, coincidentally, Samuel. It made for a confusing set up for the room; when Hunter or Sam’s parents called for one, both would look up.

Though, the Englishmen didn’t seem to mind going by his full name, so they were clear to write that on the door sign – Sam and Samuel, that is.

Saying goodbye, however…was emotional for both parties.

* * *

Hunter and Sam stood on one side of the Jeep, Drift and Jessy on the other. The UHAUL they’d rented to bring all the boys’ stuff up was now completely emptied out. Hunter rests his hands on Sam’s shoulders, the shorter boy holding his guardian’s wrists. Drift cups Jessy’s cheek, a genuine smile on his face.

“Your mother would be so proud of you,” Hunter whispers, addressing the elephant that had been in the room with them for so long. Throughout the entire process, documenting financial aid and detailing the role of Hunter in his life, Sam had felt the missing link. More than once, even when he was with Jessy, he’d wonder what his mom would think of him now. Of his choices, of the college he was going to, of _everything._

And now, to feel it validated? It tugs at his heart strings, and chokes him up a bit.

“And she’d be proud of you too. And grateful,” Sam whispers back, sniffling a bit as he tears up. To put it quite simply; 13 years later, and he still misses his mom.

It’s tense for a bit, both men feeling the Felicia’s loss, before a small laugh escapes Hunter. “Hey, chin up kiddo. She’d be proud of both of us – and that’s what matters. She wouldn’t want us crying on what should be a happy day, yes?”

“I saw you packing tissues, Hunter, I know you’re going to be sobbing when you drive off,” Sam counters, enjoying the banter. He wipes his tears off on his sleeves, smiling a little bit.

“Um, excuse you, but those are for Drift,” the elder man challenges, shaking his head. “There’s a reason he’s on the passenger side. That’s where they are.”

Sam gives Hunter a look, but nods, moving the goodbye to a more cheerful note. “At least you get to be the loving and perfect boyfriend and wipe his tears away.”

“Smart ass.”

* * *

Across the car, Drift and Jessy are having their own, heartfelt goodbye.

“I’m going to miss you, Jeshii,” Drift murmurs, pulling Jessy into a hug. “And I couldn’t be prouder of you. You’ve come so far – I know you’ll do great things.”

The younger boy, already tearing up, nods silently into Drift’s shoulder. He could remember all the other hugs like this. The time Drift had told him that they would be moving to America. The time Jessy had learned the reason behind his mother’s disappearance from his life. The time Jessy had come back from school and had blamed Drift for his lack of a mother, only to break down a few hours later and ask for forgiveness.

Because, as old and mature as he may have been, he still loved and needed his dad.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Chichi. I’ll do my best.” It’s difficult to enunciate, trying to get the last vestiges of home from Drift and talking at the same time. He does his best, and it miraculously comes out cleanly.

“I know you will. You never fail to make me proud,” Drift replies, squeezing Jessy one last time before letting him go. Tears brewed in his eyes, but few fell. He kisses Jessy’s forehead gently, wiping his son’s tears away.

Collectively, they’d come so far. Independently, they had even farther to go.

Watery smiles are exchanged, before they begin to collect themselves. Jessy had orientation in a little bit, and Drift had promised Hunter they’d be on the road by 4pm to get back in time. It was 3:57.

“Hunter, are you ready?” Drift calls, knowing he’d have to be the responsible one. (As always.) When he hears the affirmative from the American, he pulls Jessy in for one quicker, lighter hug.

I love you’s are exchanged between both sets of father and son, and in short order, Hunter and Drift are in the truck and pulling away. Sam takes Jessy’s hand, and when their parents are no longer visible, pulls him into a gentle kiss.

“As much as I’m going to miss home, I can’t wait for more time spent with you,” Sam whispers into the kiss, one hand sliding into Jessy’s back pocket, the other coming up to cup his cheek. “And you know they’ll be fine. They’ll take care of each other.”

At this, Jessy let’s out a little laugh, smiling genuinely against Sam’s lips. “More like my father will be taking care of your uncle.”

“That’s the same thing, that’s exactly what I said,” Sam counters, nibbling Jessy’s lip playfully.

Jessy smiles, giggling a bit, and wraps his arms over Sam’s shoulders, kissing him again. “I’m sure that’s exactly what you meant.”

“Mmmhmm…you know we’re going to be late for orientation if you continue this,” the American counters, both hands now in Jessy’s back pockets and pulling him flush against him.

There’s another kiss, and a shy little moan from Jessy at the feeling of having Sam’s hands on his ass. “Like this is entirely my fault?” he replies, blushing as he tries to make his stand.

“Exactly. You initiated it, you little temptation.”

“What can I say, I have my moments.”

Sam nibbles on Jessy’s lip once again, getting a few more kisses in, before pulling back. “We really should get going…”

“Oh, look at you being reasonable for once,” Jessy replies, giggling lightly as he takes Sam’s hands out of his pockets. “Lead the way, Sam.”

The American chuckles, but takes Jessy’s hand, leading him towards the main quad, where freshman and orientation leaders alike were lining up. “Anything you say, Jessy.”

* * *

 

**End of Arc 1**

 


	7. Winter Breeze: Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter break has arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took for freaking ever, college is hard and I just now am getting the time to post this...like 5 days before finals start. Whoops. 
> 
> Also, Drift is such a dad. Like I turned up his dad level 100%. Hopeless old man dad Drift.

College was incredibly different.

Of course there were learning curves, things they would never tell their parents; going through a “crawl” for the first time, learning that sports were a hell of a lot more demanding at the college level, and getting quite a few less than stellar grades at first assignments with new professors and new kids.

Long gone were the days of praying on a curve to hold grades up. Long gone were the days of zoning out in class and being able to rely on shared PowerPoint slides to pass the class. Long gone were the days of going to bed early on a school night.

It was an entirely new world.

Jessy and Sam were near inseparable at first, sticking close to what they knew best; each other. But steadily, they figured out how to branch out. Jessy joined the soccer team, which kept him busy after class hours had ended. With Jessy out and socializing – as much as the shy kid could – Sam turned his attention to the gym, where he met up with some kids for more free weight related things.

Freshman fifteen wasn’t a thing for Jessy, who was always slight in build, but for Sam, it was more freshman twenty. In pure muscle.

Jessy focused heavily in the maths and sciences, while Sam didn’t know what he wanted, and thus took an eclectic mix of things. They offered each other help when they could, but for the most part, it was networking. It was something that helped to expand their friend group, and was a skill they would appreciate later in life.

They spent fall break on campus, and their parents returned for Parent’s Weekend in October. After that was Thanksgiving, and it was during that break that Hunter proposed that they go up to the mountain he and Sam frequented. They’d saved up enough money in the year to spend twice as long, Sam knew, but he could see that that money could also be used to splurge for better lodging. And since he wanted Jessy to come along for winter break, he’d supported his uncle’s decision.

Drift had looked a little apprehensive at first – as usual – but Jessy was excited, and that seemed to be enough to convince him to give his consent. When the boys were dropped back off at school – with only three weeks in the semester left, including finals week – they did their best to stay on top of their work.

Three weeks later, tired and hungry, they were packing up and taking their school’s shuttle to the train station, twenty minutes away.

Jessy had packed heavier than Sam, what with Sam having the benefit of Hunter already having his snowboarding stuff, and bringing it up for him. The two of them sat in near silence on the bus as it drove, the 6:30AM beginning to their journey making them rather silent.

Sam chewed mint gum as he leaned back in his seat, his right hand holding Jessy’s smaller one in a display of PDA that was, at this point, second nature. Music played in his ears, his grey headphones twisted from sitting in his pocket for too long.

Jessy didn’t use his phone to occupy himself, instead watching the dead trees and expanse of highway pass by outside the walls of the shuttle. Occasionally he’d squeeze Sam’s hand, and get a squeeze in return, which brought a sleepy smile to his face as he sipped his tea.

When they arrived at the train station, everyone else who had been on the shuttle went their separate ways. The couple grabbed their bags and headed to their terminal, where Sam managed to get something resembling coffee for himself, hoping to wake himself up.

“I don’t understand how you drink that,” Jessy had murmured once they settled in their seats on the train. “It’s bitter and dark. Can’t be good for you.”

“But it wakes me up more than your leaf water does,” the darker of the two argued back, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

Jessy’s cheeks flushed a light red as he blushed, indignantly sipping tea from his thermos. “This leaf water is much better for you, mentally and physically. Don’t tell me that ground up beans are any better.”

“Would you want me awake and slightly unhealthy, or asleep and fit as a fiddle?” Sam replies, resting the paper cup on the table, and reaching forward with his warmed hands. His coat and scarf had been discarded in the empty seat next to him once he’d entered the train. The clothing folded up in a ball with a bag over top of them to keep them from falling said more about Sam’s personality than a conversation with him could.

Meanwhile, Jessy still wore his fleece, jacket, and scarf, although Sam had managed to convince him to take the gloves and hat off. “I’d _rather_ be sitting _next_ to you to be warmer…unless your coats object?”

Sam chuckles and stands from his aisle seat, moving over and settling in by Jessy. “Better?” he asks, slinging his arm around the petite boy beside him.

“Much,” Jessy mumbled, selfishly curling closer to Sam and burying his face in his sweater. He smelled like Irish spring body wash and coffee, and while one of those was playfully disliked, Jessy wouldn’t change it for the world.

Sam waits until the train starts moving, and then double checks their arrival time on their tickets, sending a text to Hunter to let him and Drift know. Once their tickets and ID’s had been checked, they put all their documents away and settled in for the three and a half hour ride.

* * *

Jessy awakens entirely on his side, his face level with the edge of the table. He’s resting in Sam’s lap, from what he can tell, and as he slowly and carefully sits up, he feels a resistance on his waist. Looking down, he finds Sam’s arm (completely deadweight, courtesy of sleeping) holding onto him, keeping him properly in the two seats he was splayed across.

His body was warmer, and he found that he had unzipped his jacket at some point. Or maybe Sam had.

Pushing himself upright, he carefully removes Sam’s arm and places it back on the sleeping boy’s lap. Checking the time on his phone, he finds that he’d missed several calls from his father. Guilt and worry immediately gnaw within, and he bites his lip as he hits the redial button.

“Jeshii?” His father picks up within the first two rings.

“Hi, Dad. It’s me, yeah.” The guilt is plain in his voice, but he continues. “Sorry for not answering, I was asleep. But we’re about…half an hour away? I think.”

“And you have everything, didn’t run into any trouble? Are you warm enough? Did you eat breakfast already?”

Jessy can’t help but smile at his dad’s affection. “Yes, I have everything. No, no trouble. I’m plenty warm – too warm on this train car, actually. And no, I haven’t eaten yet. I did have some tea, though. It was too early when we got up, neither of us were hungry.”

There’s a pause, and then Drift continues, “I see.” Jessy can hear Hunter’s voice in the background, and Drift switches over to English to tell Hunter that yes, they should get some food for the boys.

“Especially for Sam, Dad. Don’t forget that.”

“Mmhmm.” He sounds less than pleased, but Jessy knows it’s all in jest. “I wanted to check in with you – when you didn’t answer, I got worried. And you know texting is horribly impersonal.”

“Dad, that’s just another way of saying you don’t know how to do it.”

Drift merely grunts, then continues. “It is _impersonal_ and I stand by my statement. I will see you in a few minutes, yes? Hunter and I are already at the station, we’ll get some food for you two.”

Jessy laughs, and the sound rouses Sam from his slumber. Blearily looking around, the older boy first looks out the window, then at Jessy, not bothering to cover his yawn as he does so.

“Yeah, sounds good Dad. We’ll see you then.” A sympathetic yawn interrupts his words, and he pokes Sam’s shoulder, as if in punishment for his action. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Jeshii. I’ll see you soon.”

There’s a moment where neither son nor father want to hang up, but with Sam watching curiously, Jessy quickly mumbles a “Bye,” and clicks the end button. He then turns to his boyfriend, his automatic smile melting into something more genuine when he sees the state of Sam’s hair.

“You look like a baby duckling,” he admonishes, reaching up and trying to smooth down Sam’s hair. It had gotten longer in his time at school, and he knew Sam was looking forward to cutting it soon.

“Hey, not all of us got to sleep in the lap of our loving boyfriend, now did we?” he mumbles, looking forlornly at the empty coffee cup on the other side of the table. “Wish I had some more of that.”

“We’ll be at the station soon, our dads are already there. I’m sure Hunter has some more for you already waiting,” Jessy assures, still running his fingers through hair. Now, the action was more for comfort, and less for fixing bedhead. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, I did. You looked hotter than usual, so I unzipped your coat. Hope you don’t mind.” The wink he throws at Jessy makes the smaller of the two blush worse, and his free hand comes up to smack his shoulder in embarrassment.

“Shut up.”

“Why, it’s true!”

Jessy doesn’t have a reply to that, only a strangled whining sound, which Sam greets with a smirk.

The train slowly begins to come to a stop, rolling into the station. Sam stands to return to his side of the table, draping his scarf haphazardly around his neck, and shrugging back into his jacket. It was a good ten degrees cooler this far north, and the drive to the mountain would only drop the temperature lower.

Grabbing the empty cup, he tosses it into the trashcan in the bathroom, before double checking that all his documents – and Jessy’s as well, simply because he had more – were in order.

“Everything’s accounted for,” he announces to Jessy, helping him get ahold of the bags they had put under their seats. “I’ll just hold onto your stuff until we get to your dad, he can take it for the trip, right?”

“Yeah, I mean, we shouldn’t need it – the tickets are already purchased, right? So it shouldn’t be necessary, but I know he’d like to make sure it wasn’t stolen from me or whatever,” Jessy replies, holding his thermos in one hand and one of his bags in the other.

Sam slung his backpack on one shoulder and his duffel on the other and, keeping Jessy in front of him at all times, exited the train.

The platform was full of people and crisp air. The station was nothing really fancy, just a couple platforms and one of those automated ticket machines. A few benches were here and there in the foreground, but Sam was more focused on the background.

Mountains sloped in the distance, dyed blue through the atmosphere. He could see the faint lines of cable cars taking skiers and snowboarders up to the top of the mountain, little silhouettes gliding up seamlessly in the air. Fluffy clouds, passing through, offered some respite from the harsh winter sun.

Sam hadn’t felt this at ease since Thanksgiving.

This, he thought as he walked with Jessy down to the parking lot where he knew Hunter would be, was one tradition that they had done right by dutifully keeping it alive after his mom’s passing.

(Other traditions, such as Christmas tree hunting, hadn’t been touched in a while. They usually used fake ones, now. Easier clean up – at least, that was what they told themselves.)

With his hand on Jessy’s elbow, he guides him down the snowy stairs, eyes scanning for any sight of the familiar forest green Jeep. Instead, he hears footsteps coming at him from his left side, and suddenly is being crushed against someone’s chest.

“Fuck, I missed ya so much kiddo!” The tight hug he was in stole air from Sam’s chest, but as he dropped his bags on the sidewalk, he hugged his uncle back just as tightly.

“I missed you too. You do know it’s only been three weeks, right, Dad?” he gently reminds him, his voice muffled by Hunter’s layers of jackets.

“I know, I know, but I still missed you. I brought your stuff up already, Drift came with. We’ve been here for about two days, making sure everything was settled in. I just…I missed you a lot.” Hunter pulls back, placing his hands on Sam’s shoulders and sizing him up. “You look good, I hope you’ve been staying hydrated.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve been hydrated, as always.” Sam smiles at Hunter so hard his cheeks hurt, and then he turns to see Jessy waiting politely by them.

“Hey there, Jessy. Yer dad’s in the car, if you’re looking for him. We also got breakfast food for you guys, if you want. Dunkin Donuts, if that’s alright.” He knows Sam’s more than okay with it, but sheepishly smiles at Jessy. “Drift was a little less than enthusiastic about it, so if you don’t want to, we can make you something back at the lodge. But there’s a sandwich for you too, if you want it. We also have hot chocolate for the both of you?” It’s meant to be a statement, but it comes out like a question.

“That’s more than I could have asked for, thank you very much, Mr. Lee,” Jessy politely replies, smiling. He wonders why his father hadn’t made the walk over to the platform, but ignores the questioning feeling as Hunter rolls his eyes.

“Please, just call me Hunter. It’s easier,” he insists, picking up Sam’s discarded duffel, and taking Jessy’s suitcase that Sam had been carrying as well. This frees up Sam to take Jessy’s bag, along with his own backpack, leaving Jessy with only his thermos.

“Oh, well, Hunter, you don’t have to…” Both Sam and Hunter just shake their heads at Jessy, and Jessy just sighs and takes his boyfriend’s arm, the three of them crossing the lot towards the car.

Sure enough, Drift’s settled in the passenger seat, but quickly exits into the cold when he hears them approaching. He gives a nod to Sam, but focuses mainly on Jessy, leaving Sam and Hunter to load the car with their luggage.

“Jeshii! How’ve you been, let me look at you. You seem thinner, have you been eating properly since I saw you last?” he all but demands, pulling Jessy close to him in a tight hug. Jessy reciprocates immediately, pressing his face to his father’s chest and holding on.

“Yes, I’ve been doing my best,” he mumbles, the Japanese coming easy to him. “Not all the food is good in the dining halls, but I make do. And now we have an entire month off, so the stress will go down.”

“You’ve had finals, yes? How were your tests?”

“My last one was yesterday, it ended at 9pm. I think it went well, I’m just very tired. I honestly can’t tell you what the last question was on it. But I finished with time to spare and went over my work, as always.”

“Good boy. I’m glad you’ve been working hard. You deserve this break.” There’s pride in Drift’s voice, and the hug gets a little tighter, before he reluctantly releases his son, holding him by the shoulders and looking him up and down.

Jessy can see Sam watching with a bit of a smile on his face – it appeared this was the universal worrying parent gesture.

“That I do. And you, chichi?” Jessy questions, looking up at his dad. “How have you been? How’s work?”

“It’s been good, steady increase in kids,” Drift replies. Anyone else would have shrugged to add emphasis to their lack of interest or real answer to the question, but Jessy knew that the slight eyebrow raise meant the same gesture. At least, in public.

“I take it the website Hunter has designed for you has helped?”

Drift narrows his eyes, raising an eyebrow fully now, demanding an explanation. Jessy just smiles sheepishly. “Sam and I talk, you and Hunter talk, Hunter talks to Sam…I know more than you would think, dad.”

“I hope for your sake, you do not.”

Jessy’s immediately blushing, trying to look away, and Drift, for all his serious demeanor, cracks a teasing smile at his son. “Daaaaad, I don’t _want_ to know about that.”

“Then get in the car,” Drift counters, switching over to English. “There’s that speedy food that Hunter insisted on getting you two for breakfast, but if you want something else, we can do that.”

“Its fine, Dad, but thanks.” Even though he’s only going to be sitting a seat behind him in the Jeep, he hates to be parted from his father. Still, he slides in, the smell of Dunkin Donuts thick in the Jeep.

Sam’s already inside, stripped of his jacket and scarf once more, and sipping his hot chocolate. “It’s not coffee,” he continues, obviously mid conversation with Hunter, “but it’ll do.”

“Oh, I’m _so glad_ that we could find something to suit your needs, _your majesty._ ”

Sam just smirks around his cup, and when Jessy comes in, flashes him a genuine smile. “Jessy, tell my dad why it takes so much to please me.”

“Beats me, Hunter,” Jessy replies without missing a beat.

“I thought you were going to be on my side!” Sam complains, pouting at his boyfriend. “This is treason!”

“The only treason here is your inability to accept the loving gift of hot chocolate,” Hunter replies, backing out of the spot and beginning the drive to the mountain.

Sam just snickers into his cup, picking up the wax wrapper containing a breakfast sandwich, unfolding the yellow covering over his lap. The hot chocolate sits in the door, and he eats his sandwich one handed while holding Jessy’s hand in his free one.

Jessy, for his part, delicately sips the still steaming hot chocolate, enjoying the heady flavor. It was probably caused by artificial syrups and a whole myriad of other things, but it warmed him from head to toe, and he enjoyed the feeling.

He flashes a smile at Sam, before looking out the window, answering Drift’s questions as they floated back to him. Each parental figure would later take the time to grill their respective child about deeper issues, but for now, it was nice to simply be a part of something, all together.

* * *

The ride to the lodge was easy, and bringing their stuff into the house was even easier. Each house could be rented out for the season, or only for a few weeks. The fancier the house, the higher level of membership – or, just paying extra for as long as you used the house. Hunter had been planning on upgrading regardless, once Sam went to college, in case he wanted to bring friends up here. While it had been a bit unexpected to have extra people for the first time in the new house, Drift insisting on paying for himself and Jessy had eased the change in available money.

Upon getting out of the car, Sam found himself just standing there, staring at the house before them. It had two floors, from what he could see, with a raised deck running around the length of the house. There was a hot tub on the deck, and two glass doors that allowed entry from the deck into the house, along with stairs leading from the driveway to the deck.

It was plain white, with black shutters, and two chimneys on either end of the house. The basement looked finished, from what he could see, and he couldn’t believe that they’d managed to get something like this.

His excited expression must have given him away, for Hunter merely cast him a knowing smile as he handed him his bag, and walked up the stairs to enter the house. Drift followed, carrying Jessy’s bags, leaving the two boys alone outside.

“This place is beautiful,” Jessy exclaims as he comes up beside Sam. He was no stranger to mountains, or to snow, and a sight like this eased the heartache he felt for Japan. “And you come here every winter?”

“Yeah, although we hardly get places as nice as this. Dad must’ve upgraded our membership or something, this place is _huge._ ” He still can’t get over the house, and Jessy just smiled. He was used to his boyfriend’s inability to see the forest for the trees. He got focused on one area in particular and wouldn’t let it go – his introductory psychology class had informed Jessy that this was classic in Western cultures, and that Eastern cultures tended to see the big picture more easily.

“I’m sure you can explore every inch of it when we get inside…if we could go? Inside?” Jessy asks, nudging Sam towards the door.

“Oh, right, yeah.” Blushing, the taller of the two leads them inside, making his way up the shoveled steps, following the path cleared to the door. He kicks his boots off inside, and looks around, taking in the high wooden ceilings with the support beams exposed, the stone oven and fireplaces, the hardwood floors and warm carpeting.

There’s no divider between the TV room and the kitchen, save for a change in flooring, and Sam loves the open seating plan. The first floor has all the basics, and he can a bit of the second floor from the first. There were three bedrooms, this place clearly designed for a family to stay in, and the third bedroom was where Hunter had evidently put all of their stuff.

Drift was in the kitchen, making himself some tea, and Hunter had disappeared upstairs.

“Our bedroom is on the west side of the house,” Drift explains, looking up as he selected the type of tea he wished to drink. There were still boxes of unpacked food on the counter, and from what Sam could see, it was just cereal and pasta sauces. “And yours is on the east side. We’ve already put your bags upstairs, but feel free to use the closet space.”

Jessy nods, smiling at his dad, and nudges Sam to try and loosen him up. It doesn’t _quite_ work, and in the end, Jessy ends up intervening, by all but shoving Sam at the stairs. “Good idea, we’ll go do that.”

“I also wish to speak with you, Jeshii,” Drift replies, switching to Japanese for simplicity’s sake. “Alone.”

Sam looks confused between the two of them, but follows Jessy’s shove up the stairs and ascends them anyway.

“I understand. Do you want to now?” Jessy asks, waiting at the foot of the stairs, but looking into the kitchen instead.

“No, no, it can wait. You go get settled, but I do wish to talk with you. Hunter wishes to talk with Sam as well. Perhaps once you’ve unpacked?” Drift proposes, hearing Hunter and Sam moving around in the upper floors.

“Okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Take your time, it’s short.”

Jessy just nods, then quickly goes up the stairs, wondering what could possibly be the issue. As he approached the second floor, he could hear Sam and Hunter talking in the adult’s room down the hall. The spare bedroom to the immediate right of the stairs was open, with snowboards and skis leaning up against the wall, and various helmets spread out on the bed. To the immediate left was Sam and Jessy’s room, and Jessy crept inside, looking at their bags scattered around.

There was only one dresser and one closet, but all of the heavier gear was in the other bedroom, so they had more than enough space. There was also already a surge protector set up in the outlet partially blocked by the bed, allowing Jessy and Sam to actually be able to use it.

Knowing Sam would want his technology charging – since he had listened to music nearly the entire train ride, despite sleeping – Jessy set up the chargers for their laptops and phones, and then began the unpacking process. He didn’t have a lot of stuff that needed to be hung up, so he just put his things in the drawers on half of the dresser, leaving space for Sam.

Midway through unpacking, Sam came back into the room, and promptly flopped onto the bed, sighing softly. “Dad wants to talk after I unpack.”

“Same,” Jessy murmurs, folding one of his shirts and slipping it into the drawer.

“I don’t want to unpack. He’s never this serious, I don’t know what he wants.”

“Given that they want to talk to us separately, it’s probably just them checking in on us. Asking how school’s going and everything.”

“That’s true, but Hunter sucks at subtlety,” Sam replies, before smacking his hand on the bed’s mattress. “There’s only one bed in here, I already know what the talk’s going to be about.”

Jessy paused. Somehow, in his scope of the room, he’d failed to notice that there was only one bed. Blushing all the way to his ears, he grips the edge of the dresser, already not wanting to go through that discussion with his dad. “But…surely they trust us?”

“Well, I dunno what your dad is going to talk about, but mine’s going to give me the sex talk. I can just feel it. Probably because he gets some sick satisfaction out of seeing me uncomfortable.” He snorts a bit, then looks at Jessy, raising an eyebrow. “Why, what’s up with you?”

“I just didn’t want to have that conversation,” Jessy answers, still blushing as he pours his socks into his underwear drawer. “I wasn’t planning on having to go through it so soon into break.”

“Do you think they’ll be relieved to know that we haven’t done anything yet?”

“Maybe, but who knows if they will ask for what we have done.”

“I don’t see your dad was wanting to know a play by play of the things I’ve done to you.”

“And I don’t want to _give_ him one, but if it answers his questions, what choice do I have?” He gives up on packing and lays on the bed beside Sam, curling into him.

Sam automatically wraps his arms around the smaller of the two, and holds him close. “It’s not the end of the world, babe, you know that.” He kisses Jessy’s forehead, and slides a hand into his hair, his thumb rubbing over the scar from Jessy’s fall that summer. “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah…I just don’t want to go through it.”

“Me neither.”

* * *

It turned out that the talk was the same for both boys, just given in different ways. Hunter started the conversation with Sam by giving him no escape – he started the conversation when they were in the car to the grocery store to get perishable things that wouldn’t have lasted the drive. It had begun with Hunter point blank saying, “Have you and Jessy had sex yet?” and Sam wanting to hide in the backseat until Hunter gave up asking. Eventually the answer, “It depends what you define as sex, Dad,” came out, and was quickly followed by more questions.

Essentially, Hunter just wanted to know that they were being safe, and that the both of them were still doing okay, and that nothing terrible had happened while at school. Then the topic moved to lighter things, Hunter discussing grades and how finals had gone, and if Sam had any idea what he wanted to do with his major.

By the time they got back to the house, all was back to normal.

Jessy, however, had the exact same conversation – in _reverse._

The talk had begun with explanation of classes, grades and syllabi, all things Jessy expected to talk about. He wasn’t doing poorly in any of his classes, and although his sociology class was more difficult than he had anticipated, he loved it. He told as much to Drift, who seemed happy that Jessy was finding something he enjoyed – he’d never had the opportunity to go to college, and was glad that it was worthwhile venture for his son.

Then the topic switched to Drift asking more about Jessy’s social life on campus. Friends he’d met, sports he played, places he hung out – and that got him asking about the party scene on campus, and how his relationship with Sam was playing out.

Not quite mortified, but damn well close, Jessy answered the questions as quickly as possible, and almost whined in horror when Drift asked if he was being safe with his decisions with Sam.

“Of course, Dad, why would you think anything less?” He’s almost begging Drift not to continue the line of questioning, but of course, Drift does. The more it continues, the shorter the answers become, until finally Drift seems to get the answers he wants.

By the time Hunter and Sam return home, Jessy’s still blushing and curled into his corner of the couch, with Drift reading a book in the armchair nearest to the fire. Sam entered the room first, carrying the groceries in and setting them on the counter. One look at his boyfriend’s face had him opening his arms for a hug, waiting in the kitchen for Jessy to get over there.

Jessy borderline crawls over the back of the couch to get to him, hiding his face in his chest and hugging him tightly.

Hunter comes in and snorts at the display. “You act like you haven’t seen each other in months,” he teases, but knows quite well that he’s about to crawl into Drift’s lap and demand affection as well. He sets the groceries on the island beside Sam’s, and then turns back to where Drift was sitting, quietly reading.

“And you are about to act quite the same,” Drift mutters, not even looking up from the pages he was reading.

“Oh hush, you love it,” he mutters, lifting Drift’s arms and sitting in his lap. He can see Sam and Jessy in the kitchen, putting the food away and muttering things to each other with flushed faces. Looking up at Drift, he rests his head on Drift’s shoulder, humming softly. “I take it the talk went well?”

“I’ve learned some things, yes.”

“Are you going to tell me what those things are?”

That just gets Hunter a glare, which he returns with a bright grin. The American sits up a bit and kisses Drift’s frowning mouth, and smiles a little to himself when he feels Drift relax a little.

This trip was already well worth it.


End file.
